Business secretary set to speak at London security summit in March

Details for the Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) Thought Leadership Summit have been confirmed ahead of next month’s event.

Greg Clark MP, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, will deliver the keynote address during the event, which will take place on March 1st at the Royal Lancaster London.

During his talk, Mr Clark is expected to review the Industrial Strategy and the state of play on Brexit and offer some thoughts on the implications and opportunities for business and the security sector.

Other confirmed speakers include City of London Police commissioner Ian Dyson, who will give a police perspective on private and public partnerships in the security industry.

Also set to speak is Andrew Thomson, director of property services at The Shard - Britain’s tallest building - as well as Securitas chief commercial officer Craig Robb, who will discuss the transformation of the security industry and why investment in technology is essential.

The programme is capped off with some words from an ex-offender, who will offer their perspective on the state of security and how it fails so frequently.

Professor Martin Gill, founder and director of the OSPAs, said the summit aimed to bring different thought leaders together and contribute to the discussion around what security does and how it is perceived.

“The quality of what we have in the future will depend on the quality of debate we have now,” he commented.

Securitas’ Craig Robb - one of the speakers - added: “The security industry is going through a period of transformation - moving away from a traditional guarding and transactional commodity approach, to value driven, predictive total security solutions.

“Investment in new technologies will be essential as will a change in perception of the security officer role and the security industry as a whole.”